


Plush

by The_Hypothesis



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Established Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones, Existentialism, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Jack's Past, M/M, Protective Jack Harkness, Rift Gifts, Sad Jack Harkness, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:48:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26367460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Hypothesis/pseuds/The_Hypothesis
Summary: “Well don’t you know, Ianto Jones? The entire universe is made up of only atoms and stories. No matter where you go, you’ll always find someone telling the same old tale about how once upon a time, we all found the good in the world.”A gift from the rift turns out to be more than Jack ever expected.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 13
Kudos: 78





	Plush

“It says it's ten meters to your left.”

“I’ve gone ten meters to my left twice now! I don’t see any aliens or space trash here or ten meters to my left _or_ _right_! All I see is bloody rain!” Owen yelled over the coms at Tosh who was back at the hub tracking the latest piece of debris that came through the rift.

“Owen, try ten meters to your other left.” Ianto deadpanned as he trudged through the mud to catch up to where Owen had drifted, his shoes and pant legs be damned.

“That’s enough from you, teaboy. Who even let you out of the hub tonight?”

“I believe that was me, you know… _your boss._ ” Jack said as he joined the other men. “Ianto, mind getting the kit ready for a retrieval since Owen here seems to be on his last nerve?”

“I am not--!” Owen started yelling. “Okay, yes. Maybe I’m just a _wee_ bit frustrated. Why are we out here and where the hell is Gwen?”

“Gwen is home with Rhys, remember Owen? You know… home, warm, and loved.” Ianto said before adding, “Unlike the rest of us.”

“Ouch.” Jack laughed while starting to follow whatever signal he was picking up on his wrist strap. Ianto followed quickly behind with the kit while Owen resigned and wrapped his jacket tighter around himself, trailing behind. 

“You’re close.” Tosh chirped in over their earpieces. “You’re practically on top of the signal.”

Jack checked his wrist strap again while covering it from the rain. Lightening suddenly illuminated their surroundings, providing a much better view than their three torches for a moment.

“There!” Owen shouted with an air of triumph that he was the first to find it. “Careful! I think-- are those _eyes_?”

Jack and Owen immediately reached for their weapons as Ianto stepped back and readied the kit for containment. It was small, but with their luck, small usually meant fast and dangerous. The click of Jack’s safety being removed from his gun echoed through the rain.

“Hello?” Owen asked as he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. It didn’t do much to help as his sleeve was also soaked through. However, there was no response to his call, not even movement. Ianto moved in closer behind them. He could also see the light reflecting off of two glossy, dark eyes set in what seemed to be a ball of mud sitting against the foot of a tree. Perhaps it was scared? It wasn’t the safest place to be during this thunderstorm, so it was best if they moved fast.

“I don’t think it’s breathing.” Jack said. He was now the closest to the creature. He closed in the final steps and crouched down. The two eyes stared unmoving towards him. “I think we may be too late, it doesn’t seem to be responsive.”

“You sure it’s not playing dead?” Ianto asked and waited for another roll of thunder to finish. “There’s always a first time for a space opossum.”

“It’s too small for a space opossum.” Jack said with all seriousness. Owen looked back at Ianto, who just raised an eyebrow. Owen shrugged. They never knew when Jack was letting them in on secrets of the universe, or just simply full of shit. “Owen, this one might be for you.”

Whenever Jack said that, it meant that Earth’s environment couldn’t sustain the life of whatever came through the rift and it was now Owen’s job to autopsy the creature and find out anything useful. It was never an easy job, but it was the least they could offer for the unfortunate endings of most alien lives. Owen holstered his weapon down the back of his waistband and pulled on a pair of surgical gloves from his pocket, all while holding his torch in his mouth.

“Yay, usss wwha I awways waaaeed.” He exclaimed around the handle of his torch. No one had to understand what he said to know that it was sarcastic. Meanwhile Ianto came forward with their mortuary supplies, also known as a glorified bin bag.

“Careful.” Jack warned as he stepped back. Owen came forward and squatted down in front of it, trying his best to not have to kneel in mud. Using a tongue depressor, he prodded where he assumed an arm might be. It was so hard to tell, it was practically buried in the mud. The creature must have had a hard landing. Owen finally lifted the small appendage at its side. Still no response.

“No signs of rigor mortis yet.” He finally touched the creature's neck. “Definitely no pulse, though.”

Just then another crack of lightning struck, feeling too close for comfort. Somehow the rain seemed to come down even harder after it.

“Okay, let’s hurry up and get out of here.” Jack said and touched his ear piece. “Tosh, we’re on our way back with a post mortem. Can you do us a solid and order a pizza?”

“Two pizzas.” Owen suggested. Ianto nodded in agreement.

“Make that two… and chips.” Jack clarified.

Tosh laughed. “That bad out there?”

The sound of lightning barely forty meters away was enough of an answer.

\----

When they got to the hub, Tosh was already on her second slice of pizza. It was Torchwood etiquette to not wait up for others. There was never any knowing when anyone would actually stick to a plan.

“Wow, look at the three of you.” Tosh commented around a bite after the cog door alarm sounded and her very soaked co-workers returned to the hub. 

“Oh God, that pizza smells so good.” Owen said as he carried their new friend in the plastic bag as ceremoniously as he could to the autopsy table. Jack had already stripped out of his coat and shirt by the time Owen turned back around. As their leader’s shoes and socks were coming off, Ianto was on the trail to pick up the items being shed. Dignity be damned, it looked like a good idea at the moment. Soon enough Owen, and surprisingly Ianto, were starting to get out of their cold, wet clothing. 

“I’ll uh… get some blankets?” Tosh asked with a laugh, taking in the site of the three men down to their undergarments, laying their clothes to dry on an old steam radiator.

“Thanks.” Ianto said with his Welsh charm, which seemed more than his normal Welsh charm given the red dragon printed across the backside of his briefs at the moment. The team got a good view as his bare feet pattered to the kitchen area where he began to put a pot of coffee on while shivering.

Jack and Owen were already attacking the pizza in the conference room when Tosh returned with some blankets from Jack’s office. This wasn’t their first slumber party. However, it might be their first toga party. 

“You’re a lifesaver.” Owen said as he swaddled his small body. Jack on the other hand was tying a blanket around himself and over one shoulder in his best impression of Caesar. 

“How did you do that?” Ianto asked as he joined them in the room and took a blanket off the chair for himself.

“Here… let me get you.” Jack offered before he proceeded to take more effort than necessary to adorn Ianto in his own toga. He was the Cleopatra to his Caesar.

It was barely even nine o’clock yet. It was still early by Torchwood standards. And usually when there was food involved, the team seemed content to just keep working. When Ianto went to go pour coffee after they couldn’t eat anymore pizza, it was time to get back to business. 

Owen had somehow put his lab coat on over the blanket wrapped around him. It gave him a rather marshmallow like effect, but it would still be some time until their clothes were dry. 

“We should probably start keeping more clothes at the hub.” Ianto said as he entered with the tray of coffee.

“I used to, but it’s been a while since I’ve had to change here.” Owen said while he began to set up for the autopsy. “Come to think of it, literally all of Jack’s clothes are here. Why is he running around half naked still?”

“Because it’s Jack. Isn’t that enough of an answer?” Ianto said while placing the first cup of coffee on Tosh’s workstation and adjusting his blanket toga. She always got the first cup. It was a petty way to keep Jack in his place. 

Speaking of Jack…

Bounding up the stairs from the lower level, Jack returned from feeding the weevils with something that resembled a laurel wreath crown… _but not_.

“Sir, you know that is radioactive, right? Perhaps you should have left it in the archives?” Ianto said while handing him a cup of coffee, cautious not to get too close.

“It’s not like it's going to kill me.” He replied while taking a sip. “Besides, it completes my look. All hail, Jackulus Harkulus.”

Ianto just sighed. Why he was even still there, he wasn’t sure. Perhaps it was because the same questions that everyone else had, too. _What came through the rift tonight? And where did it come from?_

The sound of Owen unwrapping the plastic bag from the small body on the table had everyone’s heads peeking over. Ianto traveled over with the last cup on the tray for Owen as a means to get in for a closer look. Jack and Tosh followed him, pulling over chairs to watch at the railing.

“Owen, you look… _warm._ ” Tosh said with a bit of a giggle. Jack shot her a look, like he was trying to suppress his own. 

“Well if this thing comes back to life suddenly because it really is a space opossum--”

“A very small space opossum!” Ianto interjected.

“If this wee space opossum comes back to life suddenly, I don’t want to die in my shorts and lab coat without there being a much better reason to be mostly cold and naked in the hub.” Owen had started occupying himself with removing the bin bag from under the creature with Ianto’s assistance that he missed hearing Jack leaning over to Tosh and whispering in her ear.

“That’s your cue, Tosh.” He said and she immediately blushed and smacked him lightly on the arm. Jack pretended to smack her arm back before wrapping his arm around her shoulder to pull her chair close to his. Jack’s team really was his family at the end of the day.

“Careful not to get too close to him, Tosh. The emperor’s crown registered 60 CPM on a Geiger counter yesterday.”

“Oh, that’s harmless compared to half the things on my desk.” She replied as she leaned her head against Jack. Ianto looked over at her workstation with the obligatory raised eyebrow for the given situation. Meanwhile, Owen had already begun taking initial readings and scans.

“Nothing alarming yet.” He stated. “Ianto, pass me that tape measure.” 

Nurse Ianto obliged. Owen had started to arrange the small body to get an accurate reading. The legs were now straight, the neck aligned, and there seemed to be… _was that four_? Four appendages were pulled upwards from its head. Two wanted to lay more naturally sideways so Owen let them return to their natural state. But the two above them definitely wanted to stand as some sort of antenna or antler. He pulled the tape measure along its form.

“Foot to head is fifty-one centimeters… additional length of head appendages at fifteen centimeters. Overall length of sixty-six centimeters.”

“Aww, it’s kind of cute.” Tosh cooed.

“It’s also kind of _dead_.” Owen reminded her. “Ianto, let’s start getting this thing clean. It’s so matted with mud and if it starts drying up now, it’s going to be even harder to deal with.”

Nurse Ianto began to get a small tub of soapy water together and an assortment of small brushes and rags. The creature really was filthy, as if perhaps it was actually just made of mud. Which was a bit more of a horrifying image than anyone wanted to deal with given their light spirits at the moment.

“I feel like we should have shoes on.” He said as he set everything up besides the body. 

“Is that really the hill you want to die on?” Owen asked as he started to scrub lightly at an arm.

Twenty or so minutes later, most of the caked on mud had been removed, but it was still indistinguishable.

“It definitely has fur.” Owen muttered more so to himself than to anyone in particular.

“Is it really yellow or do you think that’s from the dirt still?” Ianto asked as he continued giving the dead creature a rather nice foot wash.

“Well, one way to find out. Hand me the isopropyl?” 

Ianto passed over a bottle and a handful of cotton swabs. A few rounds of wiping an area on its torso down later, it was indeed just a pale yellow fur that was hiding underneath.

“Jack, in your vast experience of screwing your way through the galaxy, have you ever encountered anything with yellow fur?” 

Jack turned towards Owen from where he and Tosh were now playing a hand of poker on a tool tray between their chairs while every once in a while adding commentary to the proceedings below. 

“Yellow feathers? Yes. Yellow scales? _Oh, yes._ Yellow fur? Not that I can recall, but the universe is a little on the big side from what I remember.” 

“Well, I’m not going to waste anymore time detailing this thing like Ianto details the SUV after you’ve shagged in it. Scalpel?” Owen requested while he looked over at the clock. It was well past ten now. Ianto, a bit flustered from Owen’s comment, did his best to hand over a scalpel without stabbing either of them. After the cleaning supplies were quickly removed and the area prepped, Ianto took his seat up on the landing with Tosh and Jack.

Without much further ado, the first incision was made.

“What the--”

Owen squinted at the small cut that was made.

He cut another centimeter more to widen the entry point. And that’s when it happened.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

The three team members watched as their co-worker poked at the incision and very directly, pinched and pulled something out of it.

Something white…

And fibrous…

“Bloody fucking hell. Where are my clothes? I’m going home.” Owen said, dropping his scalpel on the table and heading towards the stairs. Jack immediately got up. All easy spirits of the night forgotten. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked as he came down the stairs to meet Owen halfway. A gentle hand from the roman emperor touched the smaller man’s arm with concern.

“Jack.” He said, fuming. Jack looked back at the other two team members who were now standing, alarmed. “That’s not an alien.”

“What?” Jack looked over.

“It’s a fucking plushie.”

" _What_?” Ianto asked, squinting at it from over the railing.

“It’s a stuffed animal!” Owen yelled to no one in particular before storming up the stairs, throwing off his lab coat and blanket in the process. Everyone else just stared at it in confusion.

“We just spent the night out in the rain, getting soaked to the bone, and then working for the last hour or so just so I can give a _toy_ an autopsy.” He continued to complain while making a face as he pulled on a pair of jeans that were only half dry. “This one is now all yours, Ianto.”

“Mind if I finish cleaning it here before I archive it?” Ianto asked with a sigh.

“Have at it. I’m going home to sleep. But before I go, I have one question. What the hell kind of stuffed animal is that?!” Owen demanded while trying to get his shoes back on without socks.

“Well… obviously it’s an alien stuffed animal. Which is still pretty interesting when you think about it.” Tosh said as they all got closer.

“I think it’s some sort of… Jackalope?” Ianto said as he began to get more comfortable moving it around for inspection. He grabbed a rag and began wiping the face down more, revealing a stitched nose and gently smiling mouth.

“I thought Jackalopes aren’t real?” Owen argued.

“Well it’s a toy, they don’t have to be real. But look… these are totally antlers.” Ianto said as he positioned them more properly after another bit of a wipe down.

“What even is a--” Owen started to ask but was suddenly cut off by Jack.

“It’s not a Jackalope.”

“What is it?” Tosh asked with even more curiosity.

“It’s not a--” Jack stopped and seemed to grasp for Owen’s stool quickly. He rubbed at his face before staring back at the toy.

“Jack are you okay?” Ianto asked. Jack took a deep breath. He seemed to be trying to gain some sort of composure that he was losing quickly.

“Yeah… It’s just… It’s not a Jackalope.” He repeated before clarifying. “It’s a bunny.”

The team stared at him.

“I mean… a rabbit.” He tried to save face, but it wasn’t working.

“What the hell kind of _bunny_ has antlers?” Owen asked.

“One from the Boeshane Peninsula.”

\----

“So let me get this straight? A stuffed bunny from Jack’s childhood home came through the rift last night?” Gwen asked as she cradled her fresh cup of coffee and got her morning report of gossip from Ianto. It was their own Welsh tradition.

“Yup.” Ianto replied and he sipped his own cup. 

Jack suddenly stormed out of his office. Saw the two of them performing their morning ritual and just squinted at them.

“What are you talking about?” He demanded.

“Just your shoe size.” Ianto lied.

“You’re talking about my bunny, aren’t you.” 

“It’s just so fascinating though, isn’t it? What are the odds of something like that happening?” Gwen piped up as her eyes shimmered with excitement… and humor.

“You’re making fun of me, aren’t you?”

“No, sir. It is fascinating… and sort of… _cute._ ”

Jack stormed off and slammed his office door, leaving the Welsh to their giggling.

“Well, I better get back to work.” Ianto said while quickly washing his cup. “I’m still trying to clean this thing.”

They parted ways and Ianto went back to the conference room where he had now set up a makeshift operating room. Owen kicked him out of the autopsy bay that morning saying something about having to do _real work._

By now, the whole rabbit was a pastel yellow with mild signs of wear, and Ianto was doing his best to clean it’s face up without damaging the embroidery. Concentrating on his task just as well as he would with any other rare artifact that came into his care, he didn’t hear Jack come into the room until the chair next to him pulled out and his boss sat down.

“How’s the patient, Doctor Jones?” Jack asked.

“He’s going to need some stitches still, but he’s going to make it.” Ianto said in all seriousness. “Is it a _he_?” 

“Yeah.” Jack nodded.

“And does the patient have a name?” Ianto asked as he slid over the mandatory form on Torchwood letterhead that was filled for all artifacts or alien life that made it through the rift.

Jack silently filled the form in as best he could and handed it back. Usually this was when they played their game of coming up with silly or rhyming names for future Torchwood employees to question their sanity when studying the information they would leave behind. But if something came through already with a name, that was critical information. Ianto looked down and read the form while he pulled a length of white thread from a spool and cut it without looking.

_Name/Title: Tobby_

_Description: 51st Century toy rabbit from the Boeshane Peninsula._ ~~_Once_~~ _Belongs to Jack Harkness._

“Tobby? Did I pronounce that correctly?” Ianto asked. Jack nodded while biting his lip.

“Jack… are you…” Jack looked up at Ianto as though he knew the younger man could see right through him. “Are you okay?” Ianto asked quietly, making sure no one would be close enough to hear them.

“Yeah. I just… never expected this, you know? I never thought I would see something from home ever again.”

“It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

“Longer than you’ll ever know.” Jack said and covered one of Ianto’s hands that we’re now making tight ladder stitches down the autopsy cut Owen made. 

He paused his work and looked up as Jack sighed. 

“Longer than I even know.”

\----

There was Ianto’s tell tale knocking on Jack’s office door before he came in with Tobby cradled in his arms as if presenting a newborn to their mother for the first time.

“He’s not perfect, but all his tears are stitched up and he no longer smells like Myfanwy’s nest at the end of the week.” 

Jack laughed as he was handed his toy back, finally getting to hold it. 

“It definitely weighs a lot less now that it isn’t soaked.” Ianto said as he sat across from Jack at his desk. “To be fair, it definitely felt like a small dead body when I bagged it up last night.”

“It’s probably going to take a few more pizzas and maybe some beers on the clock to get Owen to forgive me for dragging him out there.” Jack said as he started to look over Ianto’s craftsmanship. And then for a moment he rubbed at the rabbit’s nose as if it were an old habit. That would explain the extra wear on the soft fabric.

“How old were you when you got him?” Ianto asked, already feeling like he crossed some sort of line with Jack. But surprisingly, Jack answered.

“I was a baby. It was a gift when I was born. But my mom kept a hold of him after I outgrew playing with him.” 

And there it was, all of Jack’s unspoken anxiety of why and how this relic made it through the rift. Jack rubbed at his face, looking tired.

“Coffee, sir?” Ianto asked quietly.

“That would be great. Thanks, Ianto.” 

If Jack’s eyes were red and puffy by the time Ianto finally returned with a cup of coffee, neither of them were going to mention it. 

\----

The rabbit sat on Jack’s shelf in the office for a couple days until Ianto finally noticed it moving around. Not on it’s own, obviously. But it would spend time on the old sofa, or sometimes hold his place for him in his office chair until he returned. Eventually it started to branch out into areas of the hub. But there was definite caution to not leave it anywhere that might entice their resident Pteranodon.

“Jack, did you forget Tobby?” Gwen asked one afternoon when she found him on the counter in their kitchen area. Jack turned back around from where he was rushing to answer his office phone, grabbed the rabbit, and practically tripped his way back over the metal bridge to his office.

“What the hell was that?” Owen asked, trying his hardest not to laugh.

“That was our fearless leader, who forgot his toy bunny.” Gwen snickered. 

“Shut up!” Jack yelled from his office with his hand over the mouthpiece of his phone. 

However, one night Jack entered the archives with Tobby in tow. He had his coat and gun already on and a dark look on his face.

“Ianto could I ask a favor?”

The archivist spun around on his chair to face him. “For you? Maybe.” He said, trying to lighten the grim mood Jack came with down the stairs.

“Look, I got a bad feeling about tonight. Something fishy going on across town. If anything happens, can you keep this safe for me?” And just like that, Ianto found himself as the makeshift guardian of a fifty-first century stuffed bunny, antlers and all.

“I’ll protect him with my life.” He vowed as he pulled up a second chair to his desk and sat him properly with his legs crossed. On a second thought, Ianto dug around his desk for a safety pamphlet about what to do in case of emergencies at Torchwood. “You’re never too young to start learning Torchwood protocols.” He told Tobby as he placed the pamphlet open on his lap. 

“Thanks, Ianto. I knew I could trust you.” Jack said with a wink before running off to be the dashing hero someone needed.

From that night forward, it somehow became their regular routine that when Jack had to leave the hub, Tobby was Ianto's ward. And if Ianto had to leave the hub with Jack, then Tosh was usually next in line. But if that was the case, Jack much preferred that Tobby stayed down in Jack’s bunker room.

“Why don’t you just leave him down there?” Ianto had the audacity to ask one day.

“I don’t like that I can’t see him.”

“Are you scared the rift will open up down there and get him again?”

“No I just… feel bad.”

“About what?”

“Leaving him alone.”

\----

“So how do rabbits end up with antlers?” Owen asked at lunch one day as Tobby sat on a chair of his own. He had become just another familiar presence in the hub like the weevils, the dinosaur, and the severed hand in a jar.

“I’m guessing just a lot of weird sex?” Jack offered. “I mean… you’re going to tell me that in the next three thousand years creatures aren’t going to get bored of what they’ve been sticking it in?”

“This explains so much about you.” Owen shook his head before taking another bite of his sandwich.

“Hey.” Jack said, really laying on his suave charm. “I’m definitely not bored of what I’m sticking it in.”

Ianto tried to find any resolve he could muster after such a _romantic_ sentiment. “I’m going to go make coffee. Please don’t follow me.”

Owen practically shouted laughing. “That’s you told!”

Later that night however, Jack was forced to prove his point.

“ _Oh God! Harder, Jack!_ ” Ianto practically cried as Jack picked up his pace to meet his lover’s demands. Ianto was flat on his back with his legs thrown over Jack’s shoulders. It was a hard maneuver in the small space of Jack’s bunker. But it wasn’t as difficult as trying to attempt this in the SUV, that was for sure.

Jack kissed his way up Ianto’s throat as best he could. Most of them ended up just being open mouthed mauling as he continued working his hips harder into the younger man. 

“ _Shit, Jack! It’s too much! Fuck… it’s too much!_ ” Ianto was writhing under Jack, trying to pull away. Jack stilled for a moment, making Ianto _scream_.

“Safe word?” Jack asked, suddenly filled with concern and pushing up onto his elbows.

“Oh, _hell no!_ ” Ianto laughed and pulled Jack’s sweaty body back down on top of his own. Jack continued to pick up his rhythm in the age old dance of the universe. 

“Open your eyes.” Jack panted as he told Ianto, kissing him again. For a moment, they both savored gazing into each other's eyes and just feeling how their bodies were connected. When it became too much, Jack dove back into biting Ianto’s neck. And yes, making sure to stay below his collar line.

Ianto moaned and threw his face to the side. Jack continued his ministrations-- however, Ianto had stilled.

“Jack…”

Jack groaned in response.

“Jack, hold on.” 

“What is it?” Jack asked as he lifted himself up again.

“It’s just… Tobby is watching.”

“ _What?_!”

“I mean… Jack, look at him, he’s just staring at us.”

Jack looked over his shoulder to where Ianto was giving Tobby the side eye. Indeed, Tobby’s glossy black eyes stared directly at them. And to be honest, having your favorite childhood toy watch you rail your boyfriend into the next century was a bit unnerving to say the least.

“For fucks sake…” Jack muttered as he reached across his bunker to where the rabbit sat on top of a trunk he used as a makeshift table. Doing the best he could at the awkward angle, he tossed Tobby up through the hatch door above them that was still open for ventilation. “Sorry, mate.” He muttered to the rabbit. “Is that better?” 

“Um… yeah. Sure.” Ianto said with a wince as Jack repositioned himself. He didn’t want to ruin the mood any further by pointing out that Tobby’s face and antlers were still awkwardly hanging over the hatch door, staring into Ianto’s soul.

He would just have to wait for the opportune moment to roll them over and see how long Jack could last without laughing at the sight.

For the record, it was approximately four seconds as his eyes had to adjust in the dark.

\----

Ianto was pacing. 

Jack was gone, and Ianto couldn’t stop pacing the length of his office. He knew he was breaking down in whatever organized, compartmentalized way his mind was allowing him. 

_But the bastard!_

After everything they had just gone through. Ianto thought Jack was dead.

Jack _was_ dead. Ianto had mourned him.

Ianto wanted to throw something. He whipped around as he continued to pace, looking for anything on Jack’s desk to throw at the wall. He could still feel the fabric of Jack’s coat that he had only just held to sob into days before, thinking that his lover was dead.

But now, even his coat was gone and there was no sign that either were coming back. Ianto felt like he was going to be sick. But he had to keep it together. The whole team was trying to keep it together. He even took that damn hand with him. But no, couldn’t even be bothered to think about Ianto, could he?

Ianto tried not to let himself cry. This couldn’t be the end, could it?

But that’s when he remembered… _Where’s Tobby?_

Ianto frantically searched the office, not finding him anywhere. He lifted the hatch in the floor behind Jack’s desk and climbed down into his private quarters. And that’s when he saw it, the rabbit laying as if it had been knocked to the floor. For a moment, Ianto let himself pick it up as he sat down on Jack’s bed. Once his tears started, he couldn’t stop. Clutching the soft toy rabbit to his chest, Ianto sobbed as all his fear and grief consumed him. Who was he kidding that Jack would come back for him?

But maybe Jack would come back for Tobby? How could he leave such a relic of his life behind like this?

But seeing that Jack could leave such a treasure behind, it probably wasn’t out of the question that he wouldn’t think twice about leaving Ianto behind as well. Who was he to think he was anything special to Jack among the countless lovers he constantly talked about.

Ianto was about to give into his desire to just curl up on Jack’s bed and never come out when suddenly Tosh was above him.

“Oh, Ianto…” She said as she began to descend the ladder. It was her first time in Jack’s bunker. “I’m sorry.”

Ianto let himself be pulled into a hug, even though Tosh was much smaller than him. 

“He left Tobby behind?” Tosh asked sadly.

“Yeah.” Ianto said while wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

“Maybe that’s a sign, right?”

“I don’t know…”

“Considering you’re the only person he trusts with it, I think it could be.” 

“Tosh?” Ianto asked as another round of tears started.

“Yeah?”

“I really miss him.” 

“I know you do. But in the meantime, we need you, Ianto. The team needs you now more than ever.”

Ianto took a few minutes to pull himself together.

“Thanks, Tosh.”

“Any time, Ianto.”

He had decided that the best course of action was going to be to take Tobby back to his apartment if he wasn’t at the hub. Not only was he doing his duty to the rabbit, but Tobby smelled like Jack. No one really needed to know that, though. Tosh finally stood up and offered him a hand.

“So question…” She started and Ianto raised an eyebrow over a puffy, teary eye. “How do you guys actually manage to have sex on this tiny bed?” 

Ianto laughed. 

Somehow, but nevertheless, Ianto laughed.

\----

Owen was dead. 

Well, he was dead. And then he was alive. But now he was dead, and yet somehow he was still Owen in all of his bastard ways except being able to do all the things that ever made him happy. 

Life had been good for a while. Jack had returned against everyone’s doubts. And the team became a family again. Jack, Ianto, and even Tobby became their own strange, little family again. 

But now everything had gone wrong in the most horrific ways. Even though everyone was trying to keep their shit collectively together for Owen’s sake, they each earned a few existential meltdowns of their own. And tonight was Jack and Ianto’s first night away from the hub after everything had gone tits up. It might have even been everyone’s first night getting to sleep. Well… except for Owen.

“Fuck.” Jack swore under his breath as he sat against Ianto’s headboard and slowly pulled at Tobby’s fur. “What am I going to do? I’ve ruined his life.”

“No you didn't Jack, you saved his life! I know it all seems weird right now, but at the end of the day, Owen isn’t in a freezer drawer anymore. That has to count for something? Right?” Ianto said as he pulled the rabbit out of Jack’s hands to keep him from damaging it. He placed it on the bed between their legs and pulled Jack’s head into his chest to just hold him for a moment. He could practically feel Jack’s mind racing with guilt and sorrow.

“Tell me more about him.” Ianto offered as a distraction suddenly.

“Who?” Jack asked, confused.

“Tell me more about Tobby. I know where he came from and how you got him. But what exactly is he? Did you make his name up?” Ianto asked as he ran his hands through Jack’s hair. Slowly they both got more comfortable to lay in an arrangement most people would refer to as ‘heart shaped.’ Face to face, knees entangled and foreheads pressed practically together. A yellow rabbit laid quietly under where their arms crossed to hold onto each other.

“I didn’t make his name up.” Jack admitted, and then yawned. “He came with that name. He was a character in a children’s book. He used to have a purple vest with gold buttons, but I remember that was lost towards his later years with me as a kid. He was always a part of stories that taught you how to find the good in the world. They were nice and all, but I used to get upset because he never seemed to have any friends in the books. But still, even being alone, he could always find the good things in his life.”

“I find it so fascinating that even though time and space separates where we both come from, we both grew up with children’s stories. It makes me think of that study about how every indigenous tribe from around the world eventually figured out how to make the bow and arrow without knowing others had done it, too.” Ianto said as he pulled the sheets up closer over them all.

“Well don’t you know, Ianto Jones? The entire universe is made up of only atoms and stories. No matter where you go, you’ll always find someone telling the same old tale about how once upon a time, we all found the good in the world.”

And for the first time in a very long time, Jack finally fell asleep.

\----

Owen was dead again. 

Except now, so was Tosh. 

There wasn’t a funeral for either of them. And now, there was only a body for one. Gwen cried the entire time Jack taught her how to embalm a body. Ianto cried when he realized Owen would never get his dying wish of being in drawer number sixty-nine.

It was Jack’s turn to cry later that night. They had both gone home to Ianto’s apartment after Gwen had made it home to Rhys. Everyone had the same thought that someone should stay to watch the hub. But not tonight. Just… not tonight.

Ianto had disappeared during the earlier proceedings to perform his own funeral rights. It was his duty to box up the lives of his team members for storage. Everything around the hub, all the ghosts of their lives found in mundane possessions, just quietly tucked away into a box. However, it was when Ianto was putting away the dress Tosh had worn on her date with Tommy that Ianto had an idea. He was pretty sure his teammates wouldn’t mind. He carried the dress with him as he went to Owen’s desk and grabbed his coat, too.

Some hours later Jack was in the kitchen washing up when Ianto came in with something held behind his back.

“I have something for you. I’m sorry if I got it wrong… but I just wanted to…” He trailed off as tears began to build in his eyes. He really felt like he couldn’t cry anymore today. He lifted his hands from behind his back. Ianto held out Tobby for Jack’s inspection. The rabbit now wore a purple vest with golden buttons that seemed a bit too big and yet somehow perfect all the same.

“I was putting away their stuff and I just couldn’t do it like that? You know?” Ianto cried as Jack tossed the dish towel onto the counter and came forward. That’s when he realized he recognized the vest. It was sewn out of a piece of Tosh’s dress, and fastened with the buttons from Owen’s jacket.

“Oh Ianto, come here--” And that’s when Jack crumbled, too. Ianto held the rabbit and Jack held Ianto. For the moment, the unspoken shadow that always hung over their heads seemed a bit too real that yes; one day Jack would have to say goodbye to Ianto in this same crude way. And if the world didn’t seem cruel enough, Ianto wouldn’t be able to be there to be the one to hold him.

“I don’t want to think about you having to live forever.” Ianto choked out with almost the innocence of a small child. 

“Then don’t.” Jack grabbed Tobby from Ianto’s hands and busied himself with better inspecting the new garment. It was some of Ianto’s finest work. “Think about the good in the world. Think about how we’re going to find it.” Jack suggested as he tapped Ianto on the nose with Tobby’s face.

“How are we going to find it?” Ianto more or less repeated than asked.

“Yeah. Tell me, Jones, Ianto Jones-- what’s the good parts about living forever?” 

Ianto rubbed at his eyes to clear them. 

“You get to know everything. Every story that ever was, you’ll always get to know the ending.” 

“Ooh, I like that.” Jack teased. “Tell me more.” 

“You’ll get to tell everyone you ever meet in the whole universe about Tosh and Owen and how great they were.” Ianto suggested.

“I will. And I’ll tell them all about you, too. Oh Ianto, I’m going to sing about you to every galaxy I ever go. Every star is going to know your name.”

"You won’t forget about me by then?” He asked Jack sadly.

“Of course not.” Jack swore. “Just look at Tobby, he’s just a silly stuffed rabbit and I remembered him even after thousands of years. How am I ever going to forget a face like yours?”

There was a pause as Ianto seemed to be regaining some composure.

“And you’ll get to go home.”

“What do you mean?” Jack asked.

“If you live forever, one of the good things is that eventually, a few thousand years from now, you’ll get to go home, right?”

And perhaps Jack never thought about it, or if he did, he never thought it would have been possible. But maybe Ianto was right? In a few thousand years, Jack’s family would be together and whole again, even if it was just for their designated blip in time.

“Yeah, Ianto, I can. See? That’s definitely a good part of getting to live forever, right?”

“What are you going to do when you get there?” Ianto asked as he shifted his feet against the cold tile floor of the kitchen.

“Oh Ianto… I’m going to lay in the sun… smell the air… and then I’m going to find my mom. And when I find her, I’m going to tell her all about a man I loved-- a man named Ianto Jones.”

\----

The explosion was deafening.

It took several hours for Ianto’s hearing to start to come back. But even then, the ringing in his head was too much to try to figure out what was going on.

All he knew was that Jack had to be dead. But Jack always lived, so it was Ianto’s duty to figure out how he was going to find him when he returned to whatever form he would after being blown up. He tried not to think about that too much.

It was on the second day of surveillance from his post up on the roof of a nearby building that something caught Ianto’s attention. Whoever was after them was only concerned with finding parts of Jack, and they were doing a good job at it. Great. One less thing for Ianto to have to do. However, the small patch of yellow and purple launched Ianto’s heart into his throat when they flipped over more debris.

_Tobby?_

After several long hours of waiting, and risking life and death to sneak past the recovery operations below, Ianto now held the small rabbit up where he continued his surveillance into the night. What were the odds this sad little plush would have survived that blast? It went to prove that yes, sometimes shit indeed just happens. It happens in miraculous and hopeful ways.

By the time Jack was back to one piece and free from a massive block of cement, Ianto had two things on his mind. One: He couldn’t wait to tell Jack that he rescued Tobby. And Two: Well… you can guess what number two was on his mind.

Once number two was sorted, Jack had a good heartfelt laugh at seeing the rabbit. What were the odds of him ever seeing it again after the blast? That night, among the chaos and the battle they were still in the midst of fighting, they went out of their way to find the safest place in their new headquarters. Hopefully, when all this was said and done, they would be able to come back and take him home, wherever that might be.

\----

Ianto never got to see the rabbit again. 

Ianto had breathed the air and it was too late. And just like that, as with so many others Jack had come to know, the light that was Ianto Jones was forever turned off.

It would have almost been less cruel for him to not have to wake up next Ianto’s lifeless, covered form. But bless Gwen for being there. He could never have done this alone. They uncovered him and wept for as long as time would allow them. Before they had to continue to fight. 

Jack reached out and touched his cheek.

“The face that launched a thousand ships.” He whispered to Ianto and gave his cold lips one last kiss.

\----

Jack walked out of the facility leaving Alice behind with the tears for her own lost child. 

He thought about how in another life he could have passed something as quirky as a stuffed toy from outer space down to his grandson, but he silenced that thought with rage faster than he let himself think it. He thought about how in another life, he could have been a good man. But no matter what, he never seemed to get it right, did he? 

He thought about how in another life, he was dead and gone on Satellite Five. He couldn’t even get that right, he laughed maniacally to himself.

But now what? Where was he going to go? He literally had nothing left. Gwen was already on the run with Rhys. And what did he have? An abandoned warehouse full of tech that he cared nothing about.

He just wanted to get in and get on his way.

But the smoke in the distance said otherwise.

By the time he got closer to the warehouse, the entire building was an inferno. It must have been their parting gift from the government. One last attempt to rid themselves of the curse that was Torchwood.

Jack closed his eyes and thought of Tobby inside.

He thought of all the happy and silly times he had with Ianto over the small rabbit.

He thought about how for one moment, the tear in the universe blessed him with one small miracle of time that gave him so much hope that maybe one day, he could get back the things he lost.

He thought about how long it would take for him to choke on the smoke inside and how utterly pointless his despair felt. 

He thought about home and how three thousand years wouldn’t be that far away in the grand scheme of things.

And finally-- for Ianto in the kitchen in his bare feet, and for Tobby who was now just atoms and stories in a pile of ash-- Jack thought about the good that he still had to try to find in the world.

\----

Eventually, Jack’s path finally crossed again with Gwen and Rhys.

She was pregnant and beautiful. They were happy.

And they were all here to say goodbye, an opportunity Jack rarely seemed to get.

“Where are you going to go, Jack?” Gwen asked with tears in her eyes as he strapped on his vortex manipulator she saved for him. He explained the star that would take him away, and then he ran as far as he could.

However, one important feature to a vortex manipulator is its settings. You can either set your coordinates or you can let its psychic setting man the helm, so to speak. Usually only useful in emergencies. So when Jack switched off the coordinates, he wondered just where it would lead him.

Everything inside him felt like nothing-- like the vastness of space that filled where his soul should be. He let the starless sky consume him.

It could have been an eternity, or it could have been a second. He wasn’t sure. But he had landed. His coat suddenly felt too warm, and it was too bright to open his eyes. But that smell… He knew that smell.

Jack was home.

He didn’t know when or what universe he was in. For all he knew, none of this was real. But it felt right.

Getting to his feet, Jack followed an instinct like a gravitational pull. Up and over a sandy dune, there it was, a house his family had called their home. No one seemed to be around anywhere. But there were linens drying on the line. At least someone was there. 

Not getting his hopes up, he knocked gently at the door. 

The woman that answered was much older than the woman he remembered. But then again, so was he. She stared at him for a moment as if in disbelief.

“Javic?” She asked.

“Mom…” He whispered.

“You’ve grown up so much.” She said as she slowly reached out to touch his face, making sure he was really there. Maybe he really was there. “Come inside.” She insisted.

Jack looked around. This was just his mother’s home now.

“Oh Javic, I can’t believe it’s you… It’s been so long.” She said as she enjoyed the moment to just hold one of his hands in hers.

And that’s when he saw it. The small yellow rabbit sitting safely on a shelf in the next room.

“Mom…” Jack took a deep breath, like it was the first and last breath he would ever get.

“I have so much to tell you.”

\----

**Author's Note:**

> This story is dedicated to P.J.


End file.
